Facebook-WhatsApp Data Sharing: EU Charges Social Media Giant With Providing Misleading Information On Linking Accounts

The European Union (EU) is charging Facebook for allegedly misleading the organization while it was investigating the social network company’s purchase of WhatsApp, according to a report from Ars Technica.

The issue at hand stems from the recent announcement that Facebook would be linking WhatsApp accounts to Facebook accounts, thereby giving the social media company access to user data from the messaging app.

During the process of the EU’s review of Facebook’s $19 billion takeover of WhatsApp, Facebook reportedly failed to disclose the "the technical possibility of automatically matching Facebook users' IDs with WhatsApp users' IDs already existed."

The official notice of the Statement of Objections came Tuesday from EU antitrust chief Margerthe Vestager, who insisted Facebook “must take this obligation seriously." The company now has the ability to respond to the charge that it gave incorrect or misleading information during the 2014 review and thereby breaching its obligations under the EU Merger Regulation.

A Facebook spokesperson told IBTimes, “We respect the Commission's process and are confident that a full review of the facts will confirm Facebook has acted in good faith.”

The spokesperson insisted the social network has “consistently provided accurate information about our technical capabilities and plans, including in submissions about the WhatsApp acquisition and in voluntary briefings before WhatsApp's privacy policy update this year.”

The objection from the EU is not a reopening of the original 2014 investigation, which granted clearance to Facebook to complete its purchase of WhatsApp. It is a procedural case of which Facebook will have until the end of January to respond to.

At the time of the original acquisition, the commission concluded Facebook and WhatsApp were “distant competitors” and the merger wouldn’t shrink competition among messaging services. The commission also “raised no concerns” at the possibility of Facebook possibly introducing advertising in WhatsApp and collecting user data.

“We're pleased that the Commission stands by its clearance decision,” the Facebook spokesperson said, “and we will continue to cooperate and share information officials need to resolve their questions.”

WhatsApp announced in August it would be linking its phone numbers to Facebook accounts to offer users what it called “more relevant” advertising and to add “ways for people to communicate with businesses” and friend suggestions. The change led to many users looking for a way to block the exchange of data between accounts and prompted questioning from the EU.

Facebook eventually suspended its data collection practices for WhatsApp users across Europe following a request from Germany’s Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information.